Brad Stuart | Defenseman | #17

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Brad Stuart has cleared waivers, so the Avalanche will proceed with his buyout.

He was limited to just six appearances in 2015-16 because of a back injury. The Avalanche won't get rid of his $3.6 million cap hit for next season because of his age. However, it will save Colorado $1.2 million in cash and give the team a spot back on the 50-contract limit. Jun 29 - 1:15 PM

Brad Stuart has been placed on waivers and the Avalanche intend to buy him out.

The Avalanche will save $1.2 million in cash, according to generalfanager.com, but his buyout won't provide salary cap relief because he is 36 years of age. That will leave the team with a $3.6 million charge. Colorado wants to get younger on the back end, while giving more opportunities to Nikita Zadorov, Chris Bigras, Eric Gelinas and prospect Duncan Siemens. Jun 28 - 12:23 PM

Depth Charts

Matt Duchene scored his 10th goal of the season in Thursday's 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins.

Duchene took advantage of a turnover in the Bruins' defensive zone and beat Anton Khudobin with a wrist shot to make it 1-0 in the first period. He was OK to play despite missing Wednesday's practice because of an illness. Teammate Nathan MacKinnon, who was also under the weather Wednesday, doubled the team's lead before the end of the frame. Duchene has scored three goals in his last two games and now has 17 points in 21 games. John Mitchell and Carl Soderberg also scored for the Avs.

He halted a seven-game goalless slump with his former team, the Boston Bruins, in Denver to face the Avalanche. Sodeberg had 51 points in 82 games last year, but he is off to a slow start in 2016-17 with eight points through 25 contests.

Gabriel Landeskog (lower body) sat for a 10th straight game Thursday, but he is getting closer to a return.

"He's progressing every day and it's just a matter of getting on the ice enough and testing that — so he's 100 percent when he gets back," coach Jared Bednar said. Landeskog wasn't able to skate Wednesday because of an illness that has been making its way through the team.

Joe Colborne, Cody McLeod and Eric Gelinas will each be scratched from Thursday's match with Columbus.

Colborne has not scored outside of his hat trick game early on in the season, posting just one other point through 20 total matches. McLeod meanwhile has posted 22 hits and 33 PIMs in 14 games thus far, offering at least a bit of value with his physical play.

Andreas Martinsen has been skating on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon.

The Avalanche didn't have Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog in the lineup Thursday night because of injuries. Martinsen earned an assist on a shorthanded goal by MacKinnon in a 3-2 loss to Dallas. He has only one goal and three points in 16 games.

The flu bug didn't stop Nathan MacKinnon from playing and scoring a shorthanded goal on Thursday night against Boston.

"I was sick as a dog the last couple days," MacKinnon said. "It's tough to stomach anything, and it was tough to get my legs going in the first. But we're a good team on the road." He had five shots in 18:32 of ice time.

Jarome Iginla added to his career totals during Tuesday's 4-3 loss to Nashville.

He picked up a helper to give him six points on the season through 24 games. Iginla has compiled 1,279 points during his career along with 614 goals. Hopefully this isn't the end of the road for a legendary scorer.

Blake Comeau scored and added five hits in a 3-2 loss to Columbus on Thursday.

It appeared Comeau had tied the game with just over 2:09 minutes left in regulation but it was called back due to a high stick. Samuel Henley recorded the other goal, the first of his career in his first game. It was a pretty ugly game for the Avalanche, which were outshot 37-20.

Erik Johnson will be lost to the Avlanache for 6-8 weeks with a broken fibula.

He broke his leg in the second period of Saturday night's 3-0 loss to Dallas. This is a big blow to the Avalanche as the team had been reeling on defense even before Johnson's injury. We suggest you look for a permanent replacemet for Johnson without delay.

He has missed the last two games because of a lower-body injury. The Avalanche have some question marks, including Tyutin, going into Thursday's contest. Those should be cleared up at the morning skate.

The losses keep piling up as Semyon Varlamov dropped his fourth straight 4-3 to Nashville on Tuesday.

Varlamov stopped 28 of 32 shots, including five of six while on the kill. During the streaks he's allowed 14 goals on 127 combined shots. Yikes. For the season his record falls to 5-12 with a .905 save percentage and a 3.08 GAA.

The only player to beat Pickard tonight was the red-hot David Pastrnak, who scored twice. The victory was Pickard's first since Nov. 19 (three games). He has a 5-2-1 record with a 2.39 goals-against-average and a .922 save percentage this season. If he keeps playing this well, he could steal more starts from Semyon Varlamov.